Public opinion polls show Americans increasingly support same-gender marriage. But the Supreme Court justices are waffling, according to yesterday’s oral arguments on California’s Proposition 8. The 80-minute debate not only left judges in a stalemate on whether same-gender marriage was a constitutional right or a legislative decision best left up to the states to decide but they were debating whether the case is even valid enough to be heard in court.
Legal and political experts say that the Supreme Court’s hesitation stems from the idea of creating monumental changes to societal practices in one fell swoop. “There was a genuine concern about going too far, too fast,” says Charles Fried, a Harvard Law School professor and former President Ronald Reagan’s solicitor general. “I sensed a genuine regret that the court had this case before it now.”
